Invitation
by MrsManninq
Summary: Elena gets invited to a 3 day masquerade ball retreat, and has to bring a date. Will this be her chance to tell him how she feels. Does he feel the same? Only one way to find out. (This is rated Mature for a reason- sexual content) M (Elena/Gabe)
1. Chapter 1

I do not own the characters in the story. This is just fan based story I created since I watch the show a lot with my lo. But just a more adult version of it. So if you aren't of age do not read any further. Mature eyes only! MATURE

* * *

Having such freedom as this never tasted so sweet. I live life like you never know when you will get locked up in an amulet for another 41 years. Even after being free for a couple of years I forget that I'm 18, since I was stuck in the amulet for so long my sense of time seems broken _._ Among other things, like you forget that you have boundaries that shouldn't be pushed. I can hear the wind whizzing by as I'm running after a handkerchief that abuela made for me. _I guess I shouldn't have brought it to the field, especially on such a windy day._ I reach for it but realize that it's going lower than I expected, I hadn't even realized I was reaching a cliff. I turn trying to slow down but the force of my speed slides me off. I claw and grab onto the edge, and look up and see his concerned face "Grab my hand, princess" Gabe says with his arm stretched out reaching for me, as I usually find myself in yet again another predicament. I reach up and grab his slightly calloused hand and I feel him pull me up. He wraps his arm around my waist long enough to make sure I was stable. I inhaled his scent and it gave me goosebumps, I look up at him and we're both breathing hard. For a split second I thought about kissing him, but immediately push it out of my head, fearing rejection. Once my breathing was even he removes his hand from my waist while he looks me over "Are you hurt?" I put my hand up stopping him before he starts to freak out "I'm fine Gabe, thank you" giving him a playful smile "my savior" I say feigning a damsel in distress facade, he turns away smiling. I look around "Where is Isa?" I search around the area and see her in the distance with Naomi waving yelling "Elena!" I turn to him and say "Let's go!" and start running toward them. I heard him laugh saying "never a dull moment". Once we reach Isa and Naomi they're huffing and puffing from running "You know Elena you have to be more careful" Naomi said turning toward me, "Yeah Elena! If it weren't for Gabe, you would've been toast!" Isa piped up. I sheepishly grin "Sorry I know I need to slow down-" Gabe added "or at least watch where you're going" Naomi shook her head "Gabe saved your life; you owe him" she said elbowing him in the arm gently he puts his hands up defensively "I'm just doing my royal duty". I swear I can see the slightest bit of crimson paint his cheeks as he's saying that. I turn to Gabe saying "Thank you for saving me Gabe. I do owe you." He looks around searching for the sun "It's almost time for dinner" he changes the subject. He turns to me and Isa "We must leave now if we are going to make it back to the castle in time" I nod my head and see the coach coming toward us in the distance, "perfect timing".

* * *

Once we reach the castle I notice a nice coach I haven't seen before, Isa must have noticed too as she commented "We have company?" I shrugged trying to remember if someone told me if we were or not. Gabe hopped out when we came to a stop and opened the door for us to leave lending all of us a hand, except Naomi "Bye, I'll see you tomorrow Elena!", I wave and the coach was off. We walk and head straight to the dining room, the closer we get we start to hear laughter. Isa looks over at me with a confused look as we reach the door, Gabe leans in and opens the door for us as we approach.

"Sorry we are late!" I say entering the room as he closes it behind him leaving us. I see my grandparents, Esteban, along with 2 other people I don't recognize, but just by looking at them they seem important. Abuelo gets up walking over to me "Ah here she is, Elena!" he puts his hand on my back guiding me to the table closer to our guests. As I approach I curtsey and say "I'm sorry, I'm at a disadvantage, I never caught your names". Esteban stands clearing his throat, he pans his hand to the closest woman to him. She has her blonde hair in a tight bun with a tight long sleeve dress to her knee wearing heels I don't even think I could wear without having another accident. "This is Francesca Montalvo, she is the senior grand council of one of our biggest trade partners" he motions to the other woman she has black curly hair that frames her face perfectly, but her posture reads that of a soldier and she's wearing some form of military uniform. "Accompanied by General Sasha Malave" She salutes as Esteban introduces her.

I start to have my seat saying "I hope I didn't miss much, I surely would've stayed if I had known of your arrival" Esteban sat back in his seat and signaled for our dishes to be served. Francesca replies "We were actually just passing by, as we were conducting business in a nearby kingdom." Abuela says "How nice of you to think of us." Esteban says "not that we mind the visit, but surely you came for another purpose, no?" I take another bite of my food as I would like to hear the answer that as well, since something just doesn't seem right about this random visit. She takes a napkin wiping the corner of her mouth and placed it on the table "I was going to wait, but I guess now is fine as well" she snapped her fingers and the general goes into her uniform jacket and takes out a piece of paper and slides it toward me. "It's a 3-day retreat. Day one is relaxation, day two is romance, day three is the ball. This year's theme is a masquerade ball. Princess Elena was chosen to attend." every looks at me "Me? Why me?" The general speaks up "It's a lottery process, we take down the names of all active royalty and they get placed into a lottery and the names that are chosen are invited." I sit there trying to wrap my brain around this while I see Esteban pouting in the corner, Isa asks "Romance?" I reach for the paper she slid to me and look at it, it has a black lace mask drawn on it. I flip over the paper and notice some wording. I start to read it

"She will hide all you wish to see about her sweet soul. Like breathing and living, in a masquerade ball you will fall in love with who she is, beneath the mask. Somewhere in the night be her escape and watch her soul because even with a mask her eyes give her away."

Abuela says "Wow that was beautiful" once I was done, Francesca looked at abuelo "Romance is intertwined with the theme" she then turns to me "You must bring a date to accompany you" Esteban practically choked, the general added "only 1 person" she says with a stern voice. "You expect Elena to go unguarded, to who knows where?" he says pointing at me looking at them, abuelo raises his hand toward Esteban "Calm down Esteban, Elena is of age to make her own decisions." He looks down at abuela, she continues "She has done so much for the kingdom; she deserves this vacation!" I practically sat there stunned trying to absorb everything, _I can't leave the kingdom. Can I? Now that I think about it_ "What if I can't find a date?" I ask them embarrassingly, Francesca says "It's mandatory to bring someone, or you won't get the full experience" she smiles "But that should be the easy part for you, you're a beautiful young woman." She says obviously seeing my insecurities showing. I touch the flowers in my hair with a small smile "Thank you" I look at the invitation investigating it further while everyone starts talking amongst themselves. I reread the passage on the back and flipped it over where the picture of the mask was and realized "There are no directions or location." The general stands "We will send a masquerade coachman to pick you up at sunset tomorrow" I panic "Tomorrow?" Francesca nods while standing and they both start walking toward the door, bowing on the way out. I get up and walk them to the door, turning and excusing myself from my family. I had so many questions but none of them were coming out for some reason, we reached the coaches. Francesca turns toward me seated in the coach "No need to pack, all you need are yourselves." She leaned toward me, obviously seeing the hesitation all over my face and whispers. "Never be afraid to say tell the person you dream about how you feel." I blush and immediately shake my head trying to shake those thoughts out my head, I mean _I think of it but I usually keep it in the back of my head._ I hear the driver lift the reigns I step back and just like that they were gone.

* * *

I lie awake almost the whole night, just staring at the invitation and reading the passage on the back; pondering all what Francesca was saying. Part of me knew that I was scared to go to sleep, because maybe I'm afraid to see who I do dream about. But my eyes are getting heavy and as much as I fight it, they just keep getting heavier. I give up and get under my covers and close my eyes surrendering. I open my eyes, "I can't do this" I get up in my night gown and decide to head down to the kitchen for some warm milk. _Maybe that will help rest my mind enough to sleep_. I open my door and sneak downstairs, tip toeing to not wake anyone, and head down.

I walk in and notice someone already here I smell the air _baking_ "Abuela?" she looks over startled by my voice "Elena? What are you doing up so late?" I folded my arms "I could ask you the same thing" she turns holding a tray of fresh baked bread with a sheepish smile. "Your grandfather loves this bread in the morning with his coffee." I walk over to the tray and see 4 perfect loaves of bread, "Why don't you ask the cook to do this? You should be in bed". I say walking over and grab a pot and fill it with some milk, as she shook her head no. "This is how I show him I love him, and that I think of him every day" I walk over to the stove and turn it on. I hop up on the counter and sit, "Abuela how do you know if someone has feelings for you?" she looks over at me and smiles, I look at the ground and start kicking my feet gently, "who is he?" she asks. I can feel my cheeks warm up as I say "…Gabe…", she turned her attention to her bread covering it with cloth and putting it in the bread box. "How does he make you feel when your around him?" I hop off the counter and pour the milk in my cup, turning off the stove; and turn facing her blowing my cup and taking a sip. I can feel it go down my throat down to my stomach filling me with warmth, I can feel myself relaxing. "I don't know how I feel, because I don't know where we stand." She turns to me folding her arms "People may not tell you how they feel about you, but they always show you. Pay attention." She walks over kisses my forehead "Now get some sleep mija"

I finish my milk pondering on what she was saying to me, and thought of earlier when he saved me. I feel goosebumps. I start to head upstairs and lie in my bed feeling relaxed enough that closing my eyes is natural now, and I let myself dream.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up this morning was almost painful, I felt like my heart was going to explode, knowing what I had to do. I lied in bed for what felt like such a long time, just sitting there thinking about _him_. Last night was more like memories, rather than dreams. I thought of all the moments he's been by my side, protecting me. At times, I would feel like he wasn't doing it just because it's his job, but because he genuinely wanted to. _But that could also be in my head._ I grab a pillow and cover my face, this is ridiculous. I decide to get dressed but want to do something different. I put my hair in a braid threading the flowers through my braid instead of the usual place on top. I look through my wardrobe not much to choose from. I start sifting until I spot something blue that caught my eye, I grab it and pull it out and put it up against myself looking at myself in a mirror. It's a knee length mid sleeves, blue and black dress I walk over to my shoes and see a pair of black slip on sandals. I look at my reflection doing a spin and feel pleased with myself. _Hopefully this will encourage a yes when I ask_.

 _Now that I'm thinking about it, I haven't really thought of_ _ **how**_ _I'm going to do this._ I hear a knock on my door and hear a familiar voice letting me know breakfast is ready. I grab the invitation and put it in my pocket and walk over to the door opening it. I see Isabel walking toward the kitchen, I go running after her "wait up!". She turns smiling "wow Elena! You look beautiful!" I put my arm around her shoulders and say "Thank you!" she looks over at me "Did you figure out who you're going to ask to be your _date_?" she says playfully. I take my arm off her and start fixing my dress "I have someone in mind…that I want to ask." We turn the corner and see _him_ with one of the other guards posted outside the kitchen door; they see us approaching and start opening the door. Isa says "Who are you going to ask?" I turn looking at Gabe and shoot him a smile "you'll see later" I whisper motioning for her to go in without me.

I turn facing him, before walking through the threshold, "Good Morning Gabe" he flashes one of his Gabe smiles and I melt a little. "Good Morning Elena" he bows slightly hiding his blush; I can feel my heart beating out of my chest, I'm trying my hardest to not show it. I step forward closing in the distance between us, I placed my hands behind my back looking over my shoulder making sure we were out of earshot. He immediately notices the distance and blushes deeply but stands firm. "Are you busy later?" I say trying to control my smile, he looks confused and defensively says "why?" I think about it for a second, _I'm winging this_. "Well I have a few meetings throughout the day here and within the city." He shakes his head obviously still not piecing together anything I am saying. I continue, my voice started to shake. "But I was hoping that afterwards … maybe we can go somewhere after and talk" He looks surprised but I can tell in his face he has mixed emotions, "Just the two of us?" he said scratching his head. I nod "I have something to ask you" he raises a brow and folds his arms "is it good news or bad news?" he asked. I look at him and say "I'm hoping good news", he looks like he's mentally guessing, what it could be. We hear Isabel call my name, I step back peeking into the kitchen and yell "coming!" I look back over at him and he says "The garden before dinner?" he offers, I feel my face starting to warm up "Sure" I say spinning around and heading into the kitchen before he could see the blush on my cheeks.

I couldn't concentrate on anything today, I just kept thinking of different scenarios of how asking him could go. After all he's been with me practically all day, but not _with me._ At times I did catch him looking at me, or maybe he caught me while I was lost in thought. After thinking about it for so long, the butterflies started making me nauseous. I found myself gag a couple of times, I thought about backing out of the whole ordeal.

I take a deep breath, sitting here listening to Esteban talk about issues one of the ports is having. He then started suggesting ideas on how we should handle the situation. I look out the window and see the sun peeking through the window, signaling that night fall is coming. I feel my palms get sweaty and I can feel my heart vibrate in my chest again. Finally, I hear his closing statement not a second too soon I stand slamming my gavel "meeting adjourned". Abuela turns to walk away but not before giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze whispering "good luck" I smile and look toward the doorway and see two other guards posted. _He left already…_

I'm not going to lie, I took the long way to the garden, still pondering on how this is going to turn out. I look out the glass doors and see the sun is getting lower. I take a deep breath, _It's now or never Elena._ I open the door and walk out to the garden looking around and see him sitting at one of the benches, his leg is shaking. He looks like he's talking to himself, _possible pep talk?_ I look at my hand and see its shaking too, I put it in my pocket and feel the invitation. I look at it reading the passage and it fills me with a renewed vigor. I put it back in my pocket and take a deep breath.

I must go before I lose my nerve again, "Hey" I say walking into view, he stands fixing his uniform clearing his throat and says "Hey" I continue walking over to him. He looks over and says "Want to go for a walk?" motioning toward the pathway leading deeper in toward the taller hedges. "sure". As soon as we started walking he asks "What did you want to ask me?" _it's obviously been killing him all day_. I feel like my hands are so sweaty and I'm getting so nervous, my heart is beating in my throat. "I had a visitor yesterday." He nods for me to continue "I am invited to a 3-day Masquerade Retreat…" he responds "Oh, what do you for 3 days?". I reach in my pocket and show him the invitation. He looks it over and I give him a moment to read the passage to himself. Then I add "Day one is relaxation, Day two is …romance, day three is the ball _"_ he hands me back the invitation "What's the catch?" I do a cross between a smile and a cringe while he looks at me confused "The only way I can attend is if I bring … a date…" he raised his eyebrows in shock "Oh?" I say trying to push away my butterflies,"So… I wanted to ask…" I look at the ground taking a deep breath and look up at him in his brown eyes and say "Will you join me on my retreat…as my date?" His eyes grew as wide as saucers and his face turned a deep shade of crimson that I'm also adorning on my cheeks. "Me?" he points at himself, I nod my head. He doesn't say anything right away, just looks at me. I saw the internal battle on if he should say something or not. He opens his mouth but then closes it a few times then finally says, "Why me?" looking at me, "You could ask anyone throughout the kingdom". I counter "You haven't answered" I stop walking. He turns facing me "Well I mean… your… Beautiful, and smart. Any man in Avalor would be lucky to be with you" he says stammering. I grab his hand and hold it in mine and nudge him to continue walking along the path hand in hand. "But I don't want _any_ man…I want you". He smirks raising his brow saying "you do?". My heart is officially going a mile a minute, "I do" he turns walking in front of me and stops us from walking. "I would love to go" I feel my heart swell with excitement, he asks "When is it?" I look down nervously "the coach comes at sunset". He put his hand on the back of his head "I've never been to a ball not working the perimeter" he says jokingly. I look down seeing our hands still together, so I swing our hands gently saying "Think of it as a vacation from duty... with me" I say smiling up at him. "I like the sound of that" He says taking a step forward slowly, I felt my heart beat so fast it felt like it skipped a beat. We turn when we hear "Elena!" and another voice yells "Where are you?" and I turn and see Naomi and Isabel looking for me. I lean up and give him a kiss on the cheek and say "I'm sorry, I'll see you later" before dashing off.

After helping Naomi and Isabel, I'm run to the dining room and signal the food to be served before everyone is seated. Abuelo notices my haste "Slow down mija" he gestures towards the window showing there's still a glimmer of light out. Isabel asks digging into her plate of rice, then asks with a mouthful "So who did you ask?" I look over at abuela and we smile. "I asked Gabe", Esteban says "I'm assuming by your haste to leave the answer was yes?" I nod my head embarrassingly eating off my plate. Esteban clears his throat "Elena when you are at the royalty retreat, see if you can make more connections." Abuela immediately speaks up "No Esteban, Elena is there to relax." he looks at me and says "Think about it. You will be meeting with new people and have new opportunities available at your fingertips for the better of Aval-" abuela interrupts "Which you could do when you come back from the retreat" she shoots a glare at Esteban and he puts his hands up and starts to eat his food. Isabel is the one who speaks up breaking the tension in the room "What do you think they'll have you do?" I did ponder on that thought last night when I couldn't sleep, "Hopefully massages or some sort of pampering" she giggles saying "Maybe dance lessons" she says swaying in her seat jokingly. "Maybe" I say giggling as well, I hear the door open and see Gabe along with two other guards walk in. But he's not in his uniform, he's has a white short-sleeve shirt with a navy jacket and pants with his black boots. I can't help but smile looking at him dressed like that. I stand not even caring if I finished my dinner, I run around the table handing out hugs and kisses. Then walk over to him as he offers his arm without saying a word, I loop my arm in his and we start walking down the corridor toward the front of the palace where our coach awaits. "Do you know what they're going to have us do?" He asks obviously curious "No clue."

Once we reach the front we see a black and silver coach with two white flying horses in front. There is someone waiting for us on the side of the coach, obviously the driver, once we approach he opens the door for us. I go in first and sit, I look around it's too dark to see. Gabe got in and the door closed behind him and we were surrounded in complete darkness. I feel him slide in next to me and smile, _I knew he couldn't see it._ We hear the driver as he snaps the reigns and we were off in the skies; the inside of the coach started glowing slightly. Just enough that we can see each other, I look over at him and he's looking over at me smiling. I hear something slide in front of us, and see the driver peers down and says "We may have a bit of a bumpy ride, but not to worry we aren't going too far" I lean down "Thank you Sir" he nods then slides it closed.

I start to feel the coach shake slightly I look over at Gabe, my face must've shown my slight fear. The coach jerked and I reached for and squeezed his hand looking around as if I can see through the wall to see if something hit us. I feel our fingers intertwine him saying "It's okay Elena, must be the _bumps_." I nod as the next bump came from behind us, he shot his left arm up on the top of the seat behind me to steady himself. He looks over at me saying "Are you okay?" I smile "I'm great" I noticed how much closer we got after the last bump. After a moment of turbulence in silence Gabe asks "Can I ask you something?" I turn to him and say "of course" he bites his lip for a moment then says "It's about something you said earlier" I immediately try to think back to our conversation thinking if I said something wrong. He continued "You said _you want me_ …" I immediately look down blushing, he said with a smile "you never really explained what that means exactly..." I look up at him "Uh… _I wanted you_ to come with me" I say with a sheepish smile. "We weren't talking about that the moment you said it" he says raising a brow, and continued "Out of all the men in Avalor, _you want me"_ I look at the ground trying to think of how to word my next reply. I looked up at him and sat nervously "Well… when I'm in princess mode, I don't think of anything other than the people of Avalor…But when I'm just Elena…I think of you…" I can feel my leg shake nervously, he reaches up cupping my cheek and rubbing him thumb along my jawline gently saying "I think of you _all_ the time". I see him lean down and I felt like my heart was beating as fast as a hummingbird bird, I close my eyes and feel a bump, our eyes shot open gripping the seat I hear skidding. We look at each other confused but hiding our blush knowing what almost happened. Once we stopped I see the driver open the door, saying "You've Arrived".


	3. Chapter 3

Exiting the coach, I immediately see the palace is covered in a thick fog. "Looks like we're on a cloud" Gabe says looking around, the palace was huge had a very rustic feel; which is only enhanced by the darkness. I look down and it almost looked like my skin was glowing for a moment, it felt like my skin was tingling. I look over at Gabe and while he talks to the coachman, just looking at the side of his face, it almost like his skin glowed as well. But I immediately shook it off as my eyes playing tricks on me from the glowing inside the coach. Once he was done, he walked over to me "He said if we follow the glowing stones, it will lead us where we need to go. Wherever _that_ is." I look down and notice that some of the stones are glowing somewhat but then disappear into the thick fog. "That way" his gaze fell to the floor and followed, "Ready?" he says looking at me. I nod and he took a step forward but then stopped to take my hand in his, to walk with him. The moment his skin on mine was almost electric but in a good way.

We were walking for a short while; he was focusing on getting us where we needed. I couldn't help but blush when I realized what lower extremity my eyes were focused on. I wasn't even looking at the ground for the glowing stones; I couldn't help but feel my blood simmering under my skin. "We must be in the garden" I look around and see tall shrubbery like the ones back at the palace, when I asked him to be my date. Involuntarily I think about our almost kiss in the coach, my heart starts beating faster going back to the moment. I become distracted when I see a glowing door ahead of us; we walk in and see many people walking around talking amongst themselves. The palace was filled with beautiful art work the ceiling mural and large chandelier in the middle of the foyer, we looked around in awe. We came across a large staircase where I saw a silhouette of people walking down, I hear a familiar voice. "Thank you all for joining us, for this year's retreat!" I see Francesca say holding her hands high. Everyone starts crowding around us, Gabe looks around and then leans in and whispers to me "This was a big turnout" I look around and don't see any royals I recognize but it's hard to tell with so many people here.

"I want everyone to enjoy the next three days. Use them to fall in love, rekindle love, or to fix a broken love. Whichever stage, there is something for you." The man next to her speaks up "You will all be shown to your rooms shortly, but first a quick over view of the castle" He points to one end of the staircase and the candles on that side flare up making it glow, "The west wing has enchanted rooms of activities for each couple to complete in their spare time if they please." Francesca adds "The black doors are locked tonight; starting tomorrow they don't unlock till after sunset, as those activities are only available for the night hours and are for _close encounters_. Also I just want to let all you know your bodies may start to feel different, over the next few days. There is an enchantment over the castle that makes our senses more heightened and will amplify what we are feeling. Making us more vulnerable to love more openly and honestly." That's why my body felt funny walking here, and why I couldn't keep my eyes off him. Gabe reaches for my hand and pulls me closer to him, wrapping his arm around my waist. _He must be feeling it too._ The man on the stairs motions to the other side and the candles dimmed on one side and lit up the opposite side now. He continues once she was done "The east wing has your rooms, and community rooms for you all to mingle. The floor we are on now has the kitchen and dining services which are available all day and night." I can feel Gabe rubbing my side and it feels like its sending shocks to my spine. I look up at the staircase as she continues "Tomorrow is all about Relaxation, when all of you awaken there will be instructions on where you must go and we'll take it from there. But for now eat, love, relax and enjoy."

Francesca makes her way down, the staircase once she finished, she spots me, gives me a kiss on both cheeks greeting me "Elena, so glad you made it" she looks at Gabe's arm around me, I turn and introduce him and she greets him as well. He asks "So what kinds of feelings does the enchantment actually amplify" she looks at him and says "Well it will amplify only positive emotions it will not amplify any feelings of anger or hate. But it will amplify any feelings such as happiness, desire, love." She scans the area quickly, maybe looking for someone she turns back to us "How about I show you to your room" he removed him arm from my waist, but I immediately reached for my hand. _Not that I mind, for some reason I have the strong urge that we should be touching._

As we head up the stairs following her, she talked about the architecture and artwork and various enchantments throughout the castle. Gabe asks "What's so enchanted about the rooms" We stopped at a door and she reached for the knob and twisted it and it didn't open. She took a step back and motioned for me to open the door, I reach for the knob and twist it, and it opens. "The doors are magically locked; the only people able to open them are their occupants. So privacy is never an issue." We all walked in and it was beautiful it was like our own piece of the castle. It had 2 floors a living room dining room and pool. Upstairs had a bedroom and bathroom. She gives us a quick tour and shows us how the divider in the bedroom is enchanted; it dresses you in any outfit you think of. _Sadly, puts Isabel's invention out of business._ We also have this sliding door that all we do is think of the food we are craving; the kitchen will make it and send it up. Which we did a test with some wine and it worked quickly. She told us about the pool of desire, not too much detail on that, she told us we should try it for ourselves, _when we're ready_. She excused herself to attend to the other guests and urged us to go explore.

* * *

There was wine, games and champagne everywhere, I don't think I've drank this much since Naomi's last birthday. We walked around some of the closer community rooms; we didn't want to stray far from the room tonight. We walked around and met a few of the other attendees and their dates, none that I recognized and have traveled from far. Until I heard a familiar voice behind me say "Hello Princess Elena" I see Gabe tense up at the corner of my eye. I turn and see Prince Alonso approach with which I'm assuming is his date. "Hello" I said waving with a smile, Gabe steps forward making his presence known. Alonso notices, turning up his nose at him "Lieutenant" he says curtly. Then focuses his attention to his date "Elena this is my date Cecilia" she waves smiling, I step forward matching Gabe "This is my date Gabe" I put my hand on his shoulder, and I felt him immediately relax, Cecilia speaks up "Where did you meet?" before I could say anything Gabe says "I'm a member of the royal guard, I was assigned as her personal guard" I look up at him and can't help but smile, just remembering we've been together every day since day one. He looked at me and I looked away embarrassed since I was staring, I turn my attention to Cecilia "What about you, where did you meet at?" she looks down embarrassed "I was the winner of the contest he had" he glares at her, _I mean I wasn't really shocked especially knowing the kind of guy Alonso is._ I feel Gabe put his arm around my waist, giving me chills and suddenly his scent was intoxicating. I inhale deeply arching my body into his, I hear him scoff and murmur under his breath about him being a joke. A waiter with a tray of champagne flutes comes over to us offering a drink, _perfect timing_. Gabe reached for two and turned handing one to me returning his arm around my waist nudging a little, "I think we're going to head to our room, it was nice meeting you." I say holding up my drink walking away.

We continue along the corridor joking about Alonso and how full of himself he still is, I held my glass to my lips finishing my third cup off. "We have all night" Gabe says over his shoulder walking toward the room opening the door. We walked in and it was as beautiful as we remember, I still can't believe I'm here with him _alone._ He takes off his jacket and tosses it on the back of the couch, goes over to the table where we left the bottle of wine and pours us a glass, then walks over to the pool. I felt like something was telling me to follow him, I don't know if it's the enchantment or the champagne is kicking in. But I grabbed the glass he poured and looked at him from a distance, sipping my wine. He walked over to the edge of the pool, it started to glow, "This place is amazing" he said placing one hand in his pocket and sipped his wine. I felt like an idiot just staring at him, but the way he moves is so mesmerizing. I can feel my body tingling, almost like its craving for me to close the distance between us.

Looking at his glass swirling the liquid before taking a sip, I hop up on the table and say teasingly "So you think of me all the time?" he looks over at me and his eyes are piercing making me sit up straighter. He walks back to the table placing his glass on it; I feel like my body is reacting to him rather than my words he smirks "it's true" I feel his hand brush one of the stray hairs behind my ear, and he examines my face carefully lifting it. "I've wanted to do this for so long" I felt my body start to heat up at his words, his eyes even more piercing but with a hint of hesitation. "May I?" he says, I felt my heart swell; "yes" I say almost in a whisper, I felt like I was holding my breath forever, before he leaned in. His lips brushed against mine, I close my eyes and lean into him closing in the distance. I feel him step closer to me placing his free hand on my waist; I turn my head deepening the kiss. It's everything I thought it was going to be, soft yet firm. I didn't think it would have my body reacting this way; I started aching for more for him to be closer. I reach up and place my hand on the back of his neck; I feel his tongue asking for entrance and without a second thought I opened my mouth and our tongues danced. I spread my legs allowing him to step forward and get closer so he's directly in front of me. I feel my body heat up and the pit of my stomach feel like its twisting. I pull away; if we keep going I don't think I'll be able to control myself.

Both breathing hard, his eyes had something I haven't seen in them before. He takes a deep breath and says "Elena…" he says breathlessly I froze; he searched in my eyes for a moment. "When I'm alone I think of so many things to say to you…" he looked away for a moment, and then looked back at me. He hesitated not saying anything for a moment, most likely still debating on if he should or not. I try to give a bit of encouragement, "Abuela told me that p _eople may not tell you how they feel, but they will always show you_." He looks at me and leans in and captures my lips again, but this time there was more emotion behind it. Each touch and kiss and lick had a purpose, I felt the like the butterflies in my chest have been set free. I run my fingers through his soft black trusses, with a new found confidence. His hand on my waist moved to the small of my back making me arch pressing my chest against him. I could've stayed like this forever, just lost in his touch. He pulls away slightly to catch his breath, whispering "I love you Elena" I brought his lips to mine again, this time I can feel my sex get hot. I pulled away once I realized I needed to slow down, both heaving looking at our flushed faces. Once I caught my breath I said "Let's take this upstairs" as soon as the words left my mouth "Whoa!" I wrapped my arms around his neck as he picked me up and carried me upstairs, _bridal style._


	4. Chapter 4

I don't think I've been this comfortable in a bed in such a long time. Just laying here with him feeling the heat radiating off his body. Head on his bare chest listening to his even heart beat as he lies sleeping. Flashes of last night pop up in my mind and bite my bottom lip at the thought. I bring my fingers to my lips remembering the time they spent on mine last night. You would think I had enough; but I miss them, their addicting. I can feel my skin start to heat up, thinking of last night. Hearing him tell me how he feels was everything, but he showed me which meant even more. He was a gentleman and didn't push to far, even though I secretly wanted him to. But I know he wants to do this right, so I keep telling myself not to rush things. But it's so hard when I've kept my feelings bottled up for so long, and now that I'm able to act on them, I should restrain myself. I hear a gurgle in his chest distracting me from my thoughts, I lift my head looking up at him; still sleeping. I look down at his stomach, he must be hungry. I have an internal battle deciding whether to get out of bed or not, it's warm in the bed with him. Then I feel my stomach growl as well, and I put my hand on it and sigh. Breakfast is in order.

Reluctantly, I grab the side of the blanket and slide out careful not wake him; he stirs for a moment I froze waiting for him to go back to sleep. My heart beating out of my chest hoping I didn't wake him, when I see his face peaceful again. I'm in the clear. I start to slide out the blanket, feeling the cold morning air on my skin giving me chills. I tip toe across the room, making my way to the bathroom. The bathroom looked eccentric something I've never seen in Avalor, the shower was directly above mimicking that of rain. I immediately started the shower then undressing; my mind wanders to how everyone in Avalor, vacation blues. But I need to focus, Abuela was right I deserve this vacation, I deserve to be happy. Not saying I wasn't happy before but now, I feel whole, liberated even. I step into the shower and it feels like warm thick drops of rain on my cold skin. I arch into it just letting the drops slide down my body goosebumps along the trail, leaning my forehead against the wall. My hair draping the sides of my face like a theater curtains, thinking of him. I grab the sides of my hair lifting my face toward the water, feeling drops trail down my stomach breast and thighs; wishing it were his touch. I close my eyes running my hand over my body thinking of last night…

 _Lips still on mine as he treads ever so slowly up the stairs, tongues dancing my hands tangled in my hair as I held him in place. I hadn't even realized we reached the bed until he gently placed me on my back and I felt my body get cold as he pulled away. I open my eyes and his gaze is heavy on mine, almost like he was savoring the moment. Behind that I still see hesitation, I scoot over and tap the spot I vacated for him to sit next to me. He snaps out of it and lies down next to me leaning on his elbow looking at me, I feel my body blush as I felt his gaze on me. I ran my fingers gently through his locks whispering his name. He closed his eyes giving into my touch and leaning, where my hand held his head. I lean in capturing his lips again, he placed his hand on my back pressing me closer to him. I feel his hand gently rub along my back and waist, pausing at my hips. I push my hips forward grinding into him, and I hear him groan as I feel him push his erection into me. I feel the pit in the bottom of my stomach go lower and get tighter, I can feel my walls clenching wishing he was inside me. I've never felt this way before; I feel like my senses are heightened. He reaches up and cups my breast through my dress gently kneading it. I moan into our kiss, he uses the opportunity as his tongue invades my mouth, filling up all my senses with him. Realizing I'm weak to his touch I push forward as his thumb rubs over my nipple through the fabric making me shudder. I feel him lean over still holding our kiss as he moves his body over mine as I lay on my back, completely at his mercy. I feel him start to trail kisses down my neck, I giggle in response unable to contain it. I feel him smile against my skin, finding a spot to nibble and suckle on, before returning his lips to mine. I slide my hands up his shirt feeling his toned body feeling every curve. He leaned up suddenly parting his lips from mine, wincing. "Are you okay?" I say leaning on my elbows concerned. He nodded but looked away from me, I reach for his shirt and he grabs my wrist holding it there, "Elena I'm fine" I can see his eyes pleading, I push my hand forward and he releases my grip. I lift his shirt and I see a bruise on his chest, "What-When? How?" he didn't say anything but take it off throwing it to the side and roll back over and sigh. I turn toward him "Gabe…" he covers his eyes with his forearm and says "It's from the yesterday…" still not revealing his face. I think back to yesterday since he was obviously with me nothing came to mind immediately I remember and gasp "is that from when you saved me yesterday?" all he did was nod. "Gabe I'm so sorry, why didn't you say you were hurt?" he moves his arm looking at me "It's just a bruise I've had worse" I sat there quietly not saying a word, lying on my back looking at the ceiling in guilt. He takes a beating on his body because of the decisions I make; or whatever trouble I get into. I'm sure it read all over my face since he turns facing me "Elena, it's my job to protect you even if it means getting a couple of bumps and bruises along the way" I didn't respond right away. I feel him drape his arm around my waist and pulls me in closer to him grinning, I say "Gabe!" surprised. He turns me so my back is up against his lean body; I feel him dig his face in my neck inhaling my scent. Then say breathlessly in my ear "Even if it wasn't, I would give my life for you…" he brushed my hair gently with his hand and kissed my cheek, lingered long enough that I can feel his breath go down my neck whispering "I love you" I feel his hand find mine and we intertwine them. "I want to do this right…." I nod my head suddenly feeling sleepy from all the evening's festivities. I turn to face him and look in his eyes for a moment I lean in and give him a chaste kiss saying "I love you too" he smiles and pulls me to his chest rubbing my arm till we both drifted off to sleep._

After drying off I walk over to the door and turn it gently covering my body and peek through the door. I can hear his even breath and see he's still asleep but he's rolled facing away. I open the door wider and tip toe over to the divider, trying to think of what to wear today. Today is a day for relaxation let me think of something comfortable, but that Gabe will also like. "Hmmm…" I imagine a white shirt with an off the shoulder look like my usual dress, with a black mini skirt with a sheer floor length skirt over it. I walk through and see myself in the mirror, I decide to leave my hair lose today. I just parted it on the left and did a single small braid across to the right pinning it up by my right ear. I look doing a once over satisfied with how I look "wow" I turn and see him leaning up on his elbow looking me up and down. "You look beautiful Elena" I blush under his gaze, "Thank you" I say quietly. I sit on the side of the bed and bend to put on my shoes, I hear him slide out of the bed and immediately make his way to the bathroom. I feel the blood drain out my face trying to get my emotions under control. My stomach gurgles loudly reminding me the whole reason I even got out the bed.

I pat my stomach satisfied with my meal, I had an omelet with salsa and it was fresh delicious. I sip on some freshly squeezed orange juice which tasted like they were squeezed straight into the cup. I hear foot steps behind me, I turn lowering the cup from my face feeling the liquid slide down my throat. Even after the sip my mouth went dry, seeing him come downstairs. In a tight black t-shirt, black dress pants and shoes, I feel stupid since it's so simple but _he just makes it look so good_. He smiles and I feel like it just completed the look and I felt like I could melt where I stood. I feel his warm hand on my waist as he leans in and kisses my cheek "Good Morning" he turns toward the food grabbing a plate and filling it with an assortment of the food I could think of. "What's on the agenda for today?" he says before taking his first bite. I turn and reach for the piece of paper I spotted when I came down, "when I came down I saw this taped to the door" I say holding it up "let's see" I open the paper:

"You must be one with yourself before you can merge with another. Room W15." I say aloud, I flip over the note looking to see if there is anything on the back, but nothing. "That's very cryptic" I say placing it down on the table before finishing off my juice. "I wonder what they're going to have us do" he says going back in for another bite. "Let's go find out"

We're standing outside the room and my heart for some reason is beating out of my chest unsure of what is behind. He reaches for my hand sensing my reservation about this, I look at him and he gives me a small smile and reaches for the door. We walk in and I immediately smell the faint scent of incense, a woman walks out with a small smile and bows and motions us to follow her. We bow back and follow her through a few corridors, until we reached a room with a table and robes with a mat on the ground. I'm glad the room is dimly lit enough to hide my blush, _what are we going to be doing?_ A woman motions me over to a divider off to the side like the one in our room as does one for Gabe but across the room. I walked through it and was changed into an all-white billowy meditation uniform, and looking across the room and I can see he has as well. We were then lead to the mat in the middle of the room and an older man in a similar outfit but in black walks in while the others leave. He walks over to a table and lights an incense sounding like he's chanting something under his breath. He turns and stands in front of the mat and sits down crossed, we follow suit.

"Be aware of your breath…breath in" he inhales loudly "breath out" he exhales. The second one he started we followed his direction mimicking his posture and hand positions. "Close your eyes" he instructs and we do continuing to have even breaths. I felt like I was breathing fast at first because I was nervous, I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth building a natural even rhythm. I got goosebumps, I feel at peace, clearing my mind of any thoughts. We were in complete sync; I feel my skin heat up not in an erotic way but more so in a relaxing way. I feel completely aware of my body, and every fiber upon it. The meditation outfit is so airy I hadn't realized earlier it doesn't even feel like I'm wearing anything. As if I'm sitting here naked, but even though my body is not my mind is. I hear the man's voice but it's as if he's in my mind just telling us to relax and focus on our breath. "Open your eyes…" I open my eyes and it's almost like I'm in a daze I look down at my hands and my skin looks like it's a low fire. I look at him and he is looking at his hands obviously seeing the same. The man stands and says "Now it is time to massage each other's auras" he points to a light in the corner "When the light goes on" he points to Gabe "it will put you where you need to be." I blush dark but feel my stomach flutter with excitement. He bows walking out, before I could even turn _the light goes on_.

The room immediately is dark and I can feel myself lying on the table all I can see is the faint glow of the aura around my body and see I'm nude. I see Gabe standing next to the table with a blind fold, he is unmoving and I can see his aura shake. I reach for his hand and sends shocks through my body, he opens his mouth but says nothing. I place his hand on my stomach and I can feel him stiffen, I close my eyes as his hand stood unmoving for a moment. He rubs up my waist to my neck and I turn into his touch giving his fingertips a gentle kiss as they reached my face. I felt a pool of heat travel around my body eliciting a moan to escape my lips. He moves his hand down the side of my waist and it feels like it was sending shocks to my nipples as they stand at attention aware of his nearby touch. I arch my back biting back a moan, I feel lost in his touch like my body is suddenly on fire. I feel his other hand draw lazy circles on my knee and I immediately spread my legs wider in response, inhaling deep. He puts his palm flat on my knee and rubs up along my thighs, I can feel myself clench in response internally. He twists his hand as he rubs back down on the inside of my thigh. The tip of his finger was close enough to feel the heat of my sex, I heard him groan in response. The hand near my waist travels across my stomach just under my breasts, causing me to arch into him. _Oh! – I want him so bad, this is just torture, and he's not even touching me._ I have my eyes closed and I can tell he's smiling, he's not even able to see, and yet it's like he has my body memorized. I feel his finger tip slide between the folds of my sex and I immediately want to push into him, needing something inside of me. I feel him smile as he spread the moisture that accumulated there along the length of my inner lips making sure they were moist. I feel a big knot feeling in the pit of my stomach but this one is burning, "Gabe…" his name escaping my lips. While his hand continues to teasingly rub my wetness, I feel my nipple be engulfed in his hot mouth sucking and nibbling on the hard mound. I push down on his hand deeply clenching trying to get his finger to penetrate me; he holds my hips on the table taking control. I stop moving and just get lost in his touch as he holds me down. While he moves his mouth to the other nipple and the hand holding my hips in place pinches the nipple he abandoned. I can feel the tightness I feel in the pit of my stomach contract and I rock my hips to the rhythm of his fingers, breathing hitched. I feel his teeth graze my nipple sending shocks that sent a tingle down my spine sending me over the edge. I can feel myself spilling on his fingers as I come down convulsing from my orgasm. I open my eyes and look around and we're still in a meditation stance seated on the mat, I look down at myself I'm still dressed. I look over at Gabe who is just opening his eyes, looking around. Our eyes meet and we both look down and blush, _what just happened_. The man in front of us still seated says "Do you feel relaxed?" I glance over at him and catch him looking at me, desire laced eyes, my mouth to dry to respond I just nod my head _yes._


	5. Chapter 5

I can smell the incense as it flows in and out of my nose, feeling my lungs rise and fall with each quickening breath. Even though it feels like my eyes are open I can only see black… nothing. Then I realized… _It was my turn_. My heart was hammering out of my chest, I raise my hand but hesitate for a moment, thinking about when he touched me and I smile at the thought. I feel a warm hand reach for mine it sent shocks up my arm, making me press harder into it. I lift my other hand and put it to the back of his calloused hand, I drew circles in the palm of his hand feeling a twinge of shock each time, I move my hand up his arm slowly. I can feel him lift for a moment then relax, his skin feels so warm. I follow along his collar bone gently grazing over his chest. I can feel him squirming, I came across his hard nipples. I made sure to apply some pressure once I felt them. I go lower to his abdomen just grazing my fingertips across them circling around each muscle, mentally counting… _6_. _Hmm I never noticed before, now is the time I wish she can see_. I bite my lip picturing it in my mind, him laying here just as I was… _naked._ I feel my skin heat up, making the shocks feel stronger.

I feel the dip of his belly button and turn and trace along his hips. I spread my fingers on his thigh rubbing down, hearing him groan. I take in a deep breath as it sent a shiver through me. I switch back to one finger tracing around his member, I can feel him squirming, which makes my hand bump into his erection. I smirk and grab it at the base, I can hear him take a deep breath, then groaning but the squirming stopped and he was very still. I gently moved my hand up his shaft barely touching his skin and I can feel him buck his hips into my hand. I put my other hand holding down his hips, and grip his member fully and build a rhythm, I can hear his moans escape his lips while I can feel him trying to push up into my fist. I move my hand up focusing my attention on the head, I can feel the precum that pooled at the tip and rub it around the head. He hissed in response, I can feel his erection getting harder, I flick my wrist as I reach the top of his head, push down and repeat. I remove my hand holding his hips down allowing him to thrust into my hand while I held a strong grip and continued the rhythm I built. His groans are sounding animalistic; _he must be close._ I reach his head again and gave it a gentle twist and he jerked his hips up into it. I can feel the vein that runs along the underside of him pulsing and know he is releasing. I can hear him breathing hard, and with my free hand feel the rise and fall of his chest under my palm. I slowly start to get my vision back and I look around the room, still seated in the same spot nothing had changed. I looked over at him and he was looking straight ahead, at the instructor. Looking at him I can see his body moving up and down as he takes deep breaths along beads of sweat above his brow with the blush across his cheeks. I can't tear my eyes away from him, I just touched his body without seeing anything. Something deep inside me _wants_ to see it, I shake my head and focus toward the instructor trying to push my lustful thoughts aside.

He stands and bows exiting the room, the women from earlier motion us toward the dividers and we change back into our clothes. We walk back out to the room, and see where we were seated is a platter. I look up at him briefly and catch him staring at me, I blush pushing a stray piece of hair behind my ear looking at him from under my lashes. I feel like we've been in here for so long, I forgot what he was wearing. But seeing him in it, still makes my mouth go dry and heart flutter. I walk over to the mat and had a seat folding my legs neatly to my side. He sits next to me and I can smell him now that the incense is dulled, and it's almost like I can't get enough, I scoot a little closer. I look at the platter and see a small bottle of champagne with two flutes already full. "That was… different" he says breaking the silence. I feel myself blushing "I do feel relaxed, so it worked" he continues. I reach for one of the cups and brought it to my lips to take a sip nodding my head in agreeing, it was bubbly and cold as it slid down my throat. I can feel him looking at me; _why do I feel so nervous suddenly like I can't speak and then when I do its…_ "How… was it?" he raised his eyebrows, he didn't answer right away obviously trying to find the right words to describe how he feels. "Everything _felt_ amazing" I put my hand on my elbow blushing deeply, feeling self-conscious, he noticed he raised his glass and said "To us" I look at him and he tilts his head with a smirk looking at me and I raise my glass to his smiling saying "to an incredible night together"' and clinked the glass with his and finished it off.

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We walked down the hall exploring in what I felt was a comfortable silence; looking over at him he just looks like something is eating at him. He opens his mouth but no words come out, and he looks away. I stop walking and he turns confused "Just say what you want to say" he plays dumb, written all over his face. I raise my brow at him crossing my arms, he sighs saying "I don't know what I want anymore…" I felt my heart waiver. He must've seen my face change "Not about how I feel about you" he waves his hand emphasizing what he is saying, then continuing walking down the hallway while I follow, "It's just that…I want to show you how I feel but, I don't want me showing you push you away" He continues putting his hands into his pockets looking down, I speak up "Why do you feel like that would push me away" I see the blush on the side of his face but he doesn't turn to hide it in any way, "I've loved you for so long Elena, I've pushed my feelings to the side for so long… I feel like being here is making everything boil to the surface." I couldn't help but blush, "Gabe… you showing me how you feel will not scare me, especially after our _meditation session_. Trust me" I look at him holding his gaze to emphasize my point, he looked down and blushed at the mention of _the session_ we had. I reach for his hand and pull myself closer to him and say "let's see where the night takes us" he nods his head.

We walked silently for a moment when I spotted a large room that had few people inside. There were 6 pool tables 3 dart boards and a small bar in the back with a few people seated on it. I stopped walking and tugged on his hand and motioned toward the room, "In here" he looks in scanning the room and walks in smirking. I release his hand and walk over to one of the tables, touching the hard wood trimmings so smooth. He immediately walks over to the bar; while I walk over to the rack and grab the triangle and place all the balls within it on the table prepping for his arrival back. He walks back over with two cups; he hands me one. I lift it up looking through the glass to see what was floating around inside, he took a sip and looked at me inspecting it "It's a mojito, it's good, taste it" he walks over to the rack grabbing a cue, while I take a sip. I can taste the strong taste of alcohol, which is eventually dulled by the other products in the drink. He sees my face change "Let's make this interesting" I lift my face from my glass, trying to ignore the heat made in the liquors trail. "how?" was all I could manage, "every shot that you make you get to ask me any question and I can either answer or take a sip." He explained, I gulped looking at my drink and looking at him, _I am not one to back down from a challenge._ "Let's do it"

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Let's just say we learned a lot from each other but after playing the game twice, and going through 5 mojitos. We got hungry and ate, we walk out the kitchen and see a couple off to the side kissing. I feel him reach for my hand and tug me forward, I feel a familiar voice approaching, Gabe posture is tense and my mind is a little too hazy to take this all in. We walk forward toward the stairs and are met with Alonso and Cecilia, our eyes meet and he says, "Hello, Elena" I nod my head saying "Alonso" not being able to form more than one word just yet. I wrap myself around Gabe's arm and he relaxes into me and place his hand on my arm. He continues even with my lack of a reply, "Where are you headed?" even if I could form words, the room shouldn't be swaying, "Heading to _our_ room" Gabe says firmly, but keeping his gaze on him. Cecilia looks at me and reaches for Alonso's arm, like she was trying to replicate the posture I have with Gabe. But he shrugged her off, saying "Turning in early? Sounds like fun" he says sarcastically. I can hear Gabe grind his teeth in anger, "Who said anything about turning in?" I nudge Gabe's arm forward heading in the direction of our room. Leaving behind a gaping mouth Alonso behind. The more I walk the more I feel like I can't walk straight. Good thing I have Gabe to keep me firm, being this close to him I can feel how firm his body is, his biceps and chest. Remembering when I touched them, I lean into his arm and I immediately felt my loins stir, thinking about him and smelling him is making my lust for him stronger. We reach the door and he opens it and closes it behind us, I go over to the couch I grip my shoes and toss the on the floor next to me flexing my toes.

I see him sit at the other side of the couch taking off his shoes and putting them to the side, while he was preoccupied I crawled up behind him and kiss the side of his neck behind his ear. He froze but tilted his head slightly so I can get more access to the area, I smile into his skin and place another kiss behind his ear and trail the kisses down the side of his neck until I reached his shirt. I hear him whisper my name, I pull away and he turns to me. "Elena… I need to ask you something" I sit back looking at him trying not to pout at having to stop. He takes a deep breath and says "Do you want to be with me?" he clears his throat "I mean, as in _be mine_ " I smile at him, before he continues trying different ways of saying it, I raise my hand stopping him "Gabe…" he stops talking. He looks at me nervously, I respond "Kiss me" he leans in hesitantly when his lips met mine they were soft kisses as if testing the waters. I tilted my head deepening the kiss, he turns his body to me. I feel him crawl up my body never breaking the kiss, until his body was covering mine. He places a hand on the side of my face while I feel his tongue graze my lips. I open my mouth and our kiss becomes more passionate, I can feel my loins start to spring to life, I try to squeeze my thighs together trying to hold off on the sensation he was building inside of me. He pulled away for a moment to get some much-needed air in our lungs. We look at each other with half lidded eyes, he looks at me and without saying a word I knew what he was asking, I respond "Yes" he arches a brow at me asking if I'm sure I grabbed the collar of his shirt pulling his face closer to mine and say "take me" before bringing his lips to mine once again _smiling._


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry for taking so long I'm working on two stories at once, check out my- _**Until Dawn: Finding the Light**_ fic (rated M as well). It's awesome, just posted my 10th chapter, I'm also contemplating doing an Elena/Mateo (M) ONESHOT. So, keep your eyes peeled in case I do. Anyway, back to what everyone is here for...

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Who knew how much two little words can affect someone, as his lips were on mine I felt him pick me up and carry me upstairs; laying me on the bed. My heart feels like its racing suddenly feeling nervous. He leans back from our kiss and I feel like I'm high off his proximity, as he grabs the bottom of his shirt pulling it over her head. I can see his muscles clearer now, rather than trying to imagine by touching, even the bruise he has because of me. I gently run my finger across it and continued down until I reached the top of his pants, and brush my fingers under the fabric brushing the skin there making him squirm. He looks at me smirking while I just stare at him, I can feel the drinks kicking in as I suddenly feel a boost of confidence. I grab the bottom of my shirt and lift it over my head tossing it aside, feeling the cold air brush against my breasts bringing my nipples to attention. He gazed at my chest for a minute before making a move, he leaned down and begun his onslaught with his tongue in my mouth. I moan into his mouth as I feel his calloused hand gently palm my breast. He trails kisses down the side of my neck until he has one mound suckling in his mouth. I arch my back into his mouth, I start thrashing when I feel his free hand pinching and pulling on my other breast. He releases my nipple from his mouth and trails kisses down till he reached the fabric of my skirt, he looks up at me "you're so beautiful". I shudder in response as I can feel his hand sliding up my thigh. Instinctively I open my legs wider, giving him more access, I can feel his hands on the top of my thighs pulling off the last piece of clothing I had left off. I close my eyes letting everything sink in, I jump when I feel something hot and wet at my entrance, I open my eyes and feel him thrust his tongue inside me; "Gabe…" I arch forcing his tongue inside deeper. I can feel him lapping at my wetness, he groans "delicious". I feel the vibrations from his voice and thrust my hips allowing him latch onto my clit and suckle, this sent lightning all the way down, curling my toes. I grasp the sheets and let out a loud moan, I can feel his teeth graze it as he smiles into my lips licking my entrance before returning to my clit, as I feel his fingers fill me. all these new sensations. I'm just in heaven right now; I tangle my hands in his hair. I thrust my hips deeper into his fingers, I can feel the pit of my stomach getting tight feeling like it's going to burst. His fingers thrust faster pushing deeper while nibbling on my clit, "Gabe… I" he curls his fingers pressing a spot I didn't even know existing, I feel my back arch and my walls tighten around his fingers as I orgasm. He replaces his fingers with his tongue, lapping at my essence spilling out of me while I lay there breathing fast, I couldn't even move. I feel myself get cold when I look up and see him removing his pants, I lay my head back down blushing, my heart is back in my throat. I can feel him crawling back up the bed and he places a chaste kiss on my lips parting my legs with his knee. He lifted his gaze looking in my eyes, for any sign of hesitation. I can feel the heat between my thighs, my heart flutters but looking in his eyes calms me. _I wouldn't want this with anyone else,_ I nod my head motioning him to continue.

He moves a piece of hair behind my ear leaning in claiming my lips once more, I can feel the heat pressing against my entrance. As he slowly pushes forward entering, stretching me, he groans breaking the kiss. I arch my back when I feel a sharp pain, but I don't pull away, knowing it will subside. He pushes agonizingly slow downward trying not to hurt me, I feel my nails grip his shoulders as I get adjusted. Once he's fully inside he stops for a moment unmoving, I've never felt this way before, I look at him and see sweat forming on his eyebrow as he's trying to be still. I wipe it with my thumb and he looks at me, leaning back into the kiss. He starts off slow, I follow his lead, he opens his mouth letting his tongue graze my lip. I open my mouth allowing him to explore tasting myself on his tongue; he thrusts slightly and I feel no pain, I moan into his mouth. He slowly starts thrusting while our tongues danced, his head falls to the side and I hear him breathlessly say my name. I lift my hips up to meet his, he groans into the kiss thrusting faster, pushing deeper mumbling curses of how tight I am. We're breathing hard in the nape of each other's neck, our moans growing louder, he leans back watching me thrash under him. I feel my hips buck when he touches my clit with his thumb rubbing it in circles. I feel myself pressing into him, craving another release, but more so his. I look in his eyes and see in his half-lidded gaze that he's close, I feel his pace quicken pushing harder into me. I grip the sheets and use them to anchor myself to the bed pushing into his thrusts; I knew as soon as I did it I wouldn't last much longer. My moans growing louder, I widen my legs feeling him push deeper, I scream his name as I feel my body shudder against him. With one last thrust he buried himself inside me I can feel his throbbing erection twitching inside me emptying himself, we stared at each other for a moment, not saying a word just trying to catch our breath. He removed himself and went to the bathroom quickly emerging with a towel, passing it to me. I placed it between my legs wiping gently wincing at the bit of pain I felt, when I did so.

I lift the blanket getting underneath not thinking of clothes, apparently neither did he, sliding in nude beside me. As soon as I felt his skin touch mine it was like I _had_ to be near him, I scoot over placing my head on his chest. I can't believe that just happened, I grab a corner of the blanket to cover my smile. I feel him lean down and place a kiss on the top of my head, I look up at him and he leans down kissing me holding my chin. He pulls away still holding my chin looking in my eyes as if searching for something quietly to himself, then he says "I love you" my heart felt like it could explode, I was stunned for a moment. Then realized I hadn't responded; I try to control my voice as I know it may be shaky "I love you too" I say leaning up to place a kiss on his cheek. He looked in my eyes for a moment; before I lay my head back on his chest again, listening to his even heartbeat till we were both fast asleep.

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Waking up the next morning was hard to do, that was until we heard a noise. I peek my eye not seeing anything in front of us, I start stretching my arms in front of me. I look and feel him starting to stir from the noise as well, I turn and realize that it's a paper, _chiming._ I reach over and leave my warm comfortable spot and grab it, as soon as my fingers touch it the chiming stopped. I look over at him and see he's rubbing his eyes while finishing off his yawn "What does it say?" he says as I lean on the pillows behind me while trying to cover myself with the blanket, realizing I'm still nude. I open the note, to read aloud:

 _It's not about who loves you. It's about how they love you. You must learn the difference between what they say, and what they mean. Don't just try to make them smile, learn what causes it, as well as fear as you may console them. Your day of romance begins when you arrive at the dock_

I look over at him not even realizing he got up, since he's walking over to the bathroom. I glance at the note and start thinking about last night; I hear the shower start and I take the opportunity to find something to throw on. I walk about the room to find something; I quickly find his black shirt from yesterday and throw it on as it covers most of me; as I'm putting it on I can smell him. It was intoxicating, I couldn't help but smile as his scent filled my lungs. I start to head downstairs since he may be a while and I take the opportunity to get some breakfast.

I think of various delicious items to eat, and find myself staring out into the pool after a while. Almost like something was drawing me in, I look away focusing on my plate. _Nope_ , I shook my head and took a bite of my fruit, even as my mind was trying to talk me into _taking a quick dip_. I'm happily distracted by my thoughts when I look up and see Gabe walking down the stairs. He has his hair pushed back with black pants and boots a white button down shirt with the top unbuttoned and black jacket. He grabs a plate and loads it with items for his breakfast, while he turns to me and says "How are you feeling?" I shift in my seat noticing, _I'm a bit sore,_ "Nothing a shower can't fix" I say with a smile. I hop off the seat, go upstairs and jump in the shower. I swear that water must be enchanted healing water because every ache or pain I had previously was gone. I decide to wear a navy long sleeve V-neck black pants and boots. I decide to have a half up hairstyle like Isa's, with a single blue flower on the side… since I'm missing my family. I was lost in thought for a moment and hadn't even realized he came in the room till I heard his voice, "you okay?" I look up and see him leaning against the door frame looking over at me. I turn to face him "I was just thinking of my family" he leans off the wall and starts walking over to me, "I know you miss them" I felt his hand on my waist pulling me into a kiss. When we pull away I look into his eyes and smile and say "I'm fine, just a little home sick, but we're going to miss our boat if we stay here to long" he laces his hand in mine lifting it to his lips and place a kiss on the back of my hand while I blushed. Then we left off to the docks for a mysterious day of romance together.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm sorry guys my laptop stopped working and I had to REWRITE the chapter I had already started. .

But we're almost there I can see the finish line. Thank you all for being patient and reading the story, I hope you are enjoying it. The next chapter is going to be sick, I can't wait for you guys to read what I have in store!

We arrive at the docks and it's even foggier than it was when we had first arrived, my hand reaches for his as I saw him move forward. He turned to me smirking then continued down the long pier that was dimly lit with torches. Before we reach the end, a man approaches us "Good morning" he says coming into view, he bows "My name is Captain Valdez, I will be your guide for today." He motions toward a boat, "it's a beautiful vessel" I said admiring a very detailed large mermaid at the bow. I look at her face it's so realistic, it's unsettling. I squeeze his hand gently, he looks over and places his free hand over mine reassuringly. I look up, and notice it has a mast but _has no sail_ ; Gabe noticed as well as I saw his eyes look and shoot a questioning glance at me. We all board without questioning anything just yet, he gives us a tour and shows us the pulpit at the head of the mermaid and points to where the cabin is set up for us to go down later for lunch. Multi colored flowers lined the inside of the ship I touched one and I immediately pull my hand away, it looked like it was _glowing_. I look out to the ocean and I can't see too far in front of us. "Captain?" he turns "Yes Princess?" I point toward the ocean "How are we to sail with all this fog?" Gabe adds "and without a sail". The captain laughs and motions us to follow him to the captain's cabin. Gabe and I look at each other confused but follow him, he shuts the door and walks over to a table that has an assortment of levers and buttons. He turns and says "are you ready to begin your voyage?" we nod uncertain, and with that he turns and pushes a button and pulls a lever. We feel the boat waiver Gabe reaches for my hand and steady's me. I look over to the side and see the dock is rising, _wait we're sinking._ He turns around and sees the panic on my face, "The boat is enchanted" he says soothing our fears but at the same time feel as though, my stomach is in knots for some reason; such a close intimate setting. I see the water reach the hull but instead of spilling onboard it just continues rising, as if there's an invisible wall. The captain grabs ahold of his steering wheel as we sink lower into the water until we are fully engulfed. Even with the few rays of sun that could break through the thick fog once we were fully covered in water the inside of the boat became dark. The further we descended the darker it got, the captain flicked a switch and I noticed a glow coming from outside the room. He saw my curiosity had been piqued, the captain smiles "you all can walk around the ship, it's yours for the day, if you need anything feel free to stop by and see me. I'll let you know when lunch is ready."

We walk out and I notice two chairs at a small table with some juice prepped on them. I walk over and he pulls out the chair so I can sit and assists pushing me to the table. I blush, as he sits across from me taking a sip of his drink looking out into the ocean, he was about to look back at me when something must've caught his eye. I turn looking in the direction he was looking, and see a few glowing orbs in the distance. I couldn't tell what they were at first but I couldn't help but stare in awe. The closer they got the more were appearing around us, like floating lanterns. I turn looking behind us and see them surrounding the boat and see they are jellyfish, they were multicolored. As we passed we can hear faint music they emitted as they swam around us. The music was soothing and harmonious as it passed, we sat there listening and observing in a comfortable silence. I stood walking over to the edge, they seem so close almost as if I can touch them. You can see the pulse that they emitted as they swam by. If you pay attention closely enough you can see and decipher which ones make what sounds, I feel Gabe join me looking at them in awe. We pointed out which ones made which sounds and imitated them; we even chimed in with our own sounds adding to the song, laughing as we did. After a while the music started to fade and we look in darkness that is left behind, the flowers lined around the boat providing the only light on board. We can hear the captain yell over to us "Lunch is in the cabin" I turn and Gabe has his arm extended waiting to loop mine in to join him to the cabin, which I do. It's so weird to think about how a few days ago, I was afraid to even ask him to come and here we are on the boat together, _together._

We walk in and look around, I notice Gabe raised a brow, it was set up _odd_. There was a table with food behind a small lounger and the floor had a large black carpet inside. He walks over to the food, while I circle the carpet looking. It's such a deep black almost like if I was to stand on it I would sink into it like quick sand. He walked over to the lounger and looking down on the edges of the carpet it started to glow, I placed one foot on it and it grew brighter. I walk over to the lounger he's seated near the arm and I sat beside him. The glowing edges began moving toward the center, I lifted my feet to the lounger. The edges began to split and changed color, as they would reach the edge of the carpet it would bounce and go toward the center almost like fireworks. Faintly we begin to hear the humming of a woman, it almost seems hypnotic I started to feel relaxed. I look over at him and he leans back into the lounger, he must be feeling it to. The glowing started to dim, I continued to stare at the center of the carpet when I noticed a face appeared in the center. I tapped Gabe's arm without looking away from its gaze, he must've seen it too since I heard him gasp. The closer it became the more I noticed it had long hair sprawled out almost like an aura, the clearer it came into view, it was a large mermaid; but I've feel like I've seen her before. The glowing edges began darting toward her as if painting her skin, he brown skin becoming vibrant her hair a vibrant blonde glowing. We were drawn to her like moths to a flame, she had our full attention.

 _Hello lovers,_ we hear her voice, but her lips never moved. _I am here to help you connect with one another, on a deeper level._ I raise my brow; her eyes shift to Gabe without looking at him I can feel him shift uncomfortably. _During our time, here we will tap into your fears to prevent future hurdles that may affect your relationship._ She looks over at me _Hello Princess,_ I wave and she smiles, _I know that this is something you've dreamt of for quite some time._ I shift looking at Gabe _now is the time to ease one another's fears._ She glances between the two of us, _one of you is experiencing self-doubt_ I look at him, he continues looking at her I look back at her and I feel as though she is speaking to him and I can't hear. He turns to me, and shift his gaze and says "I want to be with you… at times I've felt like I wasn't good enough. Which is why I've never pursued anything" I sat their eyes wide, "Gabe I've never wanted any else but you…" the mermaid crosses her arms, and he looks down at her and continues "I thought you'd end up with someone else…" I leaned back "Who?" he didn't respond, just stared into the carpet in a daze till his eyes grew wide. I look down at the carpet and see the name _Mateo_ appear; I look over at him shocked. "You think Mateo and I?" he shook his head "I didn't think anything, I noticed you had a better connection with Mateo than with me." I smiled "Yes Mateo and I have a better connection because we are _friends._ Especially since he helped free me from the Amulet, I would be forever indebted to him, but I do not look at him the way I do you." I feel a blush creep up my neck, he looks down "he doesn't feel that way…" I was taken back, Mateo has spoken to him on having feelings for me? "He's never said anything to me" Gabe scoots into the corner creating a bit of space, "Does he have to? He makes it obvious when he's around you" I look at the mermaid who is watching intently when I hear _soothe his fears_. I look at him and place my hand on his "Gabe even if Mateo were to tell me of these _feelings_. I wouldn't be able to return them." He looks at me and sighs we turn when we hear her voice in our minds. _Remember to communicate how you feel, but more importantly listen to one another._ He looks up at me, "I'm scared one day you'll wake up and feel differently" I tilt my head confused "about us?" he corrected "about me" I moved my hand back to my lap and took a deep breath "You are all I've ever dreamt of, and being here with you is just that, a dream come true." I can hear her chime in _she chose you …_ "you could have any man in Avalor" he finished "and I would choose you again in a heart beat" he rubbed the back of his neck looking down, "I guess I feel like I'm dreaming too, but mine seems a little too good to be true…" I looked down "I feel the same way..." I say sheepishly; and we laughed.

We spent about an hour talking digging deeper into our feelings, about each other we even learned about ourselves along the way. About how me losing my parents would impact aspects of our relationship, and his family and his siblings. Our goals of where we want it to go, funny memories and pet peeves; it was refreshing. Talking like this, I felt as though we started off on a platform of trust and understanding, that will make things easier since we know these things ahead of time. Before we realized it, _she was gone_. We were so enveloped in talking to each other, we hadn't noticed her presence was gone; especially considering how close we got.

We had become so comfortable I instinctively placed my legs over his while we talked, I just felt like I couldn't get close enough. We heard a soft knock on the door, and hear the voice of the captain announcing he's entering. He excuses himself as he enters, and says that he has a message to deliver about the ball tomorrow. I bite my lip looking at the side of Gabes face as he looked at the captain. _It's almost over..._ He stands and clears his throat, "When you arrive to the suite, you each will disappear to one another until the ball" my mouth flew open "what?!" I felt Gabe grip my knee, the captain threw up his hands defensively. "It's only temporary, I assure you. It's to make your connection stronger." Gabe speaks up, "We've already become stronger" I couldn't help but smile.

"Think of it as the final test. Once you re-enter the ball you'll be able to see each other" he holds his finger up "Only if you can find one another. If you don't find one another by the end of the ball. You'll know if you're meant to be.". I hold my hand up waiting to ask a question "how are we supposed to find one another?" He smiles "Just enjoy the time you have together now, you'll be able to sense each other presence if your bond is strong enough, once your in the room." He turns to leave, "I will ring the bell when we are about to rise. It'll be a site to see" then shuts the door behind him. Gabe and I look at each other and I know my heart was racing, I can only imagine his. The only thought in my head... _What if it's not meant to be..._


	8. Chapter 8

A/N - If you want to know what stories I'm working on check out my profile. It lets you know which story has my attention, so you can anticipate when a new chapter is going to be coming out. But anyway on to what you came here for!

 **WARNING: SUPER DUPER MATURE CONTENT AHEAD!**

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Captain Valdez was most certainly right about the view from the boat as we rose, it was something I can't even put into words. All the bright colors were still the brightest I've ever seen even through all the fog. But part of me knew that this was just a distraction for what was to come, once we reached the room. Even as we ate at the dinner hall I was quiet, which he noticed; but didn't ask what was wrong. He probably knew why I was upset... We walked down the hall toward our room and I can feel myself instinctively slowing down, _I don't want to leave him_. He must've sensed it, and he stopped "Elena..." He looks as if he's trying to choose his words carefully, I can feel myself starting to shake I feel anxious. "I just want you to know that I love you and no matter the outcome of the ball.. I know what I feel for you is something I can not ignore." I couldn't help but smile "I don't want to be alone..." He places a hand on my shoulder "you won't be, it's like the captain said we should be able to sense each other." I look down off to the side "Yeah... If our bond is _strong_ enough." He looks at me saddened obviously not liking my pessimistic tone. He looks down the hall at the door, "Think of it as the ultimate hide and seek." He smiles warmly obviously trying to cheer me up, I shoot him a small smile and we walk over to the door hand in hand, and I can't help but send him a gentle squeeze pulling him back gently when he reaches for the door.

"Gabe wait!" He looks at me and gives me a soft smile "We can do this Elena, have faith." I shake my head "Thats not why I said wait... I want one more kiss." I say sheepishly and his soft smile turned to a smirk. He tugs on my hand pulling me close to him until my body fell against his as we pressed into the door, "I thought you'd never ask." I feel his hand gently holding my chin as I see him staring into my eyes almost like he was burning my image into his mind; and being completely honest with myself I was doing the same. Looking from his eyes to his strong jaw, then before I knew it his lips were on mine. Softly I felt myself melting into him completely, as my body pressed up against his it was almost like he had ignited my loins, as I can feel them beginning to stir; my heart is racing. I feel his hand release my chin as he lightly traced my jaw to my neck. His touch was soft as he slowly reached the back of my neck, I feel him intensifying the kiss as I felt his tongue graze my lip. I couldn't help but moan which he took advantage of as I felt him exploring the inside of my mouth, as he tipped my head back, pulling away from the kiss and lowered to my neck. I feel him leaving a trail of kisses along my neck, I feel jolts of heat in each ones wake, forcing me to melt into him even further. I can hear his even breathing near my ear, while I press myself into him further I _feel_ his excitement and hear his breath hitch and him groan my name. I feel his mouth suckle on a piece of skin behind my ear, my eyes roll back and I close my eyes enjoying the sensations. I couldn't help what I said next "I need you..." I feel him smile while he sucked hard for a moment then pulled away, he blew gently on it and I can feel it tingle, I hear the door open as he whispers "Come find me." My eyes flew open as I felt myself get cold and watched him disappear into the room.

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I've been in the room for a while now and still no sign of him... I've been walking around waiting to see if I sense anything... but got nothing. I sat on the bed feeling defeated, "It feels like I'm living with a ghost" I say annoyed. I laid down on the sheets curling into a ball, and just start thinking of all the fun we've had being here, together. My thoughts eventually drift to the last moment I had with him, his lips on mine, I can feel my loins stirring, I try to push it out of my mind since he isn't here. But it's so hard to not think about him when suddenly I can see through the window that something is glowing downstairs.

I hop up hoping its a sign from Gabe, but as I head downstairs I realize it's just the pool glowing. All I could think of how Francesca told us to try it out _when we were ready_. Thinking of how we didn't take advantage when we had the chance, I walk over to it and see the glow brighten; I decide to sit near the edge looking into the glow and realize its moving. Faintly I can see the water wading, for a moment I felt like I was going crazy just staring at the water move as it hypnotized me. If you looked hard enough you can see that one spot shines the brightest, it must be _Gabe._ My heart started racing unsure of what to do, I stood undressing myself and walked over to the edge and stared into the glowing water. I was feeling nervous yet excited, I open my eyes and scan the pool for the bright spot and see it, near the wall on the far side. I dipped my foot in the water and see my skin is giving off a faint glow. The water was cool not too cold, I step deeper in the pool and notice the bright spot hasn't moved. After my fourth step in I started to feel my skin tingling, feeling the water against my loins, cool yet igniting them. I look down and the glow looks likes its pulsing to the beat of my heart beat, I look up and the notice the bright spot move. I circle around scanning the pool but don't see it. I bend my knees and push off the floor to wade around the pool feeling the coolness cover my skin and my hair. I can feel my muscles stretching as I swam, _it's been a while._ I did a few laps trying to tire myself ultimately giving up on looking for Gabe. _I wish my body was getting the message_ , I lay on my back letting the water cover my ears as I stare at the ceiling hearing nothing but my own breathing.

 _I never realized it had a mirror on the ceiling out here as well._ Faintly, I can see a glow in the corner of the pool. I lean up wading in place, looking over at the corner and don't see anything. I look up at the mirror and see that its moved, _behind me_. I panicked, and started backing up till I felt I reached the stairs under my feet, but my foot slipped I felt someone grab my hand and lift me up before my head can go under, another wrapping there arm around my waist pulling me in. I felt helpless but _warm_ , I feel his cheek on my cheek as he held me, I closed my eyes and imagined him. I don't know if its the pool of being close to him but… _I'm throbbing with need_. I feel my breasts burning for his touch, I can feel him nuzzle my neck, placing small kisses trailing up to my ear. Suckling on the piece of skin behind my ear, my knees feel weak, the only thing holding me up is the arm he has around me, as I melt under his touch. His kisses continue until he reaches my lips, I felt the water around us start to shake. I raise my hand losing my fingers in his hair has I pulled him closer pressing myself into him further trying to satisfy the fires on my body. I wrap my free arm around his neck and my legs around his waist deepening the kiss. He moves his arm from around my waist and grabs the base of my thighs I can feel him walking up the stairs, not breaking kiss. I feel him lay me on the top step, I lower my feet and can feel them in the water. Being out of the water I can feel everything is sensitive and throbbing, it feels like ever nerve ending is on full alert. He ran his finger tips across my breasts brushing against my hard nubs with his thumb and it felt like it sent waves to my loins, I arch my back moaning loudly. I couldn't help but to start squirming all the sensations were overwhelming, but his torture continued as he would pinch and flick my hardened nubs, until I noticed one hand trailed off to the side and down my waist. I felt something warm and wet engulf my nipple, and I saw stars I can feel his gentle tongue nibble and suckle on the nub as he toyed with it. My sex was so hot I had my legs open as I can feel my juices dripping, then I felt his fingers rub along the slit with his finger tips, I can feel the vibration in his throat of his groan; it sent shivers through me as he slowly pressed into me. I instinctively pushed into him wanting more, craving my release. I didn't realize I was squeezing my eyes shut until everything stopped and I opened them seeming nothing, my heart is going a mile a minute I'm on the edge.

I felt an arm wrap around me again but this time with force I was lifted up and spun around, I was caught myself on my hands and knees the water around me splashing me; thats when I felt something hot and pulsing at my entrance. I feel his hands on my hips keeping me from pressing into him, _he wanted contro_ l. I tried to remain still when I felt him take on hand and grab himself and rub his head against my entrance. Moments I can feel him pushing teasingly deeper than expected, and I would buck; I could feel the water splash on our loins cooling them but making us desire each other more. He's still holding my hip in place I had no choice but to endure the tortured pleasures. I reached back spreading myself urging him to go deeper, until he sunk himself so deep into me I felt like he was in my stomach. I tried to pull away but he held me in place grinding into me, he reached around with his now free hand on my swollen clit and I cry out his name. I can feel so much, the pulsing beat in his member stretching my tight walls in pleasure, and the shocks coming from my clit I can't hold it any more. I feel myself releasing onto him as he begins thrusting and I can feel my essence dripping down my thighs as I can feel my walls squeezing his member trying to milk it, his thrusts become manic he released my clit and has both hands gripping my hips. As he pushes his hips forward he pulls my hips into him slamming himself, I continued to orgasm every nerve ending on overdrive I reached for my clit and started rubbing it arching my back into him, and felt him push deeper slamming into me, I can faintly hear him cry out, then feel him spilling himself into me. Once he was done I can feel him pull away, I stand and look around and notice the pool is no longer glowing, _we are_.

I can see the faint blue glow of the outline of his body looking at me, then I heard his voice "Elena?" I smiled, I didn't know how long it was going to last I just walked up to him and kissed him. I feel him smile and pull away just to say "I love you." I looked at him and notice the glow is fading, and look down and see my own fading. We give each other one more chaste kiss before I say, "See you at the ball" and see him fade away.

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A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews and giving me encouragement to keep going! The Masquerade Ball is coming up next chapter, I wonder what lies ahead... :)


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry everyone I spent 2 months catching up on Game of Thrones! :) and now that summer is over and my kids are in school now; I officially have more time to write. Thank you all for reading, probably a few more chapters and it will be over. I feel slightly sad that this story is going to be coming to an end soon. After it's complete I may go back to the older chapters and clean them up so it will be officially complete after that. Now on to the story...**

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Waking up that morning was so hard to do on my own, I felt... alone. I wake up every morning alone in the palace, you'd think I would be used to it. I didn't do much most of the day, I didn't feel like exploring without Gabe; it just didn't feel right. I just sat around thinking, and _over thinking._ I don't know why even after all of this, that I wonder if Gabe and I will last, I mean to be completely honest its only been _a few days_. What if we go back to the palace and everything changes... I know not everything can have a happy ending, and maybe this is it... maybe I ran out. Escaping the amulet was a feat in itself, but to find true love... I don't know.

I heard a knock on the door allowing me a moment to escape my thoughts; I tightened my robe and head down the stairs toward the door. When I opened it I wasn't sure who to expect, but it was General Sasha, I recognized her immediately her black curls bouncing as she bowed. "Lady Francesca has requested your presence" she leaned up and realized my lack of clothes and blushed slightly, "whenever your decent... I will wait here until your ready, to escort you" I nod and say "I'm sorry just give me a few minutes and I'll be right out." I shoot upstairs and literally hopped in the shower and hopped out running behind the divider and thought of a nice red and white sundress with some red flats, I quickly braid my hair; and head out the door.

I was smoothing out my dress as I faced Sasha "I'm sorry to keep you waiting, I hope I didn't take long." She started walking and I sped up to walk beside her as she shook her head "no problem at all" now that we were walking, it just struck me "why does she wish to see me?" She shrugged "I was told to retrieve you" I nodded, I decided to make some small talk. With Gabe being gone I've been very lonely in a foreign place. "How many balls have you been to?" She continue looking straight ahead "I've worked at every ball since I was 18" her face serious. "Was it fun?" She said "I was working" she said curtly, "So you've never brought a date?" She shook her head no, almost looked like she was embarrassed. "Oh" I said, when I noticed we were passing the black doors of the west wing, as soon as the thought passed my mind she asked "Have you tried them yet?" Obviously trying to change the subject from her. I tried to hide my blush and shook my head "no". She glanced over at me, "It's not for everyone... maybe next time" I look over at her and ask "next time?" We turned a corner and it was almost hard for me to keep up with her fast turns. "Well since the attendees are chosen with a lottery, its possible your name could be chosen again." A man was walking toward us and he looked familiar, she saw my eyes look ahead and she followed my gaze "He's Francesca's husband, Ramon." He smiles brightly at us, his smile was bright like he knew he could melt anyone woman's heart, his hair looked disheveled compared to a few days ago, when he had it slicked back. Most likely why I didn't recognize him, his eyes travel to Sasha and she looks down blushing "Hello Sasha" he says smirking at her. She squares her shoulders and looks up at him with a stone face demeanor, "Yes" he places a hand on his chin thinking for a moment. "After you bring Elena to Francesca, can you help me with something in my office?" the corner of her mouth curved to a bit of a smile, as she nodded. She grabs my arm lightly and tugs me in the direction of Francesca room.

Before I could formulate a sentence she turns the next corner quickly and opens a set of doors. Revealing Francesca standing in front of a full length mirror surrounded by different color gowns, with a woman standing off to the side holding what I assume is the next one she's to try on. I walk in and Sasha closed the door behind me, Francesca saw me walk in, through the mirror and smiles exclaiming "Elena! Thank you for coming" she hops off the pedestal and walks over to me pulling her me in for a kiss on the cheek. "It's not a problem, I was glad to be invited" she smiles warmly and turns to the woman in the room and nods towards the door. Francesca walks back over to the pedestal as the woman places down the dress and walks out the door.

Once the door was shut Francesca asked "Do you like my dress?" I looked at it closely, it was a traditional gown it had skinny straps and the back dipped as far as it could without showing too much. Pearly white, with gold specks scarce at the top, the bottom looks like it was just dipped in gold. "Its beautiful" I say smiling at her, she turns to her side her back to me trying to see it from a different angle. "I'm glad you think so..." She grabbed the straps and glided them down until it pooled around her feet, I look down to avoid looking in the mirror since she's nude.

I can feel myself blushing, I hear her step down and walk over to me. I look up, she has her hand out holding the gown "here try it on" I was flabbergasted on multiple levels. I immediately say "No I couldn't possibly" I see her shake it in front of me, "Put it on" I see her face is stern this time, I nod not wanting to upset her. I take it from her and turn looking around the room and notice, theres no divider. I look back at her and she motions to the pedestal. I walk over to it and step up, I look at myself in the mirror and take a deep breath. I place my hand on my strap and hesitate, _just do it quick._ I look in the mirror and noticed she walked over to her armoire and was searching. I quickly lower my dress letting it pool at my feet while I get in the gown she gave me to try on. I pull it up and slide my arms through and it felt like it clung to me perfectly. I turned to look in the mirror, and my mind just went blank I stared at myself it was beautiful. I turn to her as she is tying her robe and immediately say "I can't possibly" I know whats next, I step down from the pedestal. "Francesca I don't know what I've done to earn your kindness but really I can't" she waved her hand away, "I would like for you to wear it. Really." She takes a deep breath and walks says "I remember when I was young and in love." She sits at her vanity and begins brushing her hair, she looks almost like she's looking into a far off place, "I don't understand" She takes a deep breath "my parents arranged for Ramon and I to be wed... I couldn't go against them." She stopped brushing and our eyes met in the mirror "Elena, I was very good friends with your mother..." I feel my eyebrows raise in shock, "Oh?" She lowers her gaze to her "Please take the gift, it's the least I can do to honor your mother." I look down at the dress smoothing it against my skin, "Why now?" She reaches in front of her and grabs her wine bottle and pours two glasses while she takes a deep breath obviously trying to find words. She turned handing me a glass, and I reached out, and took a sip "My life became very complicated, and I was carried across the seas promised to be married... I was just a child... I was only 8." She finally says her hands lingering on her glass lost in thought, "Your mother was at our castle to discuss an alliance with my mother and father, but instead she watched them carry me off while I kicked and screamed that I didn't want to leave my home." She took a big sip of her wine, "But your mother tried to reason with them, saying she could never ship off her children." She sits on the bed and looks at me "Family stays together, she told them..." She shook her head, "But they didn't care, they put me in a ship and said it was my duty to my kingdom..." She waved her hand in the air as if replaying the moment in real time. We sipped together quietly for a moment, "Your mother knew which kingdom they sent me to and wrote to me quite often... my parents... never wrote." She placed her glass on a stand next to the bed and she continued "As I grew older eventually our kingdoms became trade partners, in an attempt for me to send for your mother so I can see her again and thank her in person for helping me through a very dark time in my life." She stood and begin walking over to me as I finished off my glass as well, "But before we could Shuriki invaded and I never got my chance to thank her." She stops directly in front of me and touches the dress "It's the least I could do" She takes my glass from me and says smiling I stumble a little realizing my vision is going blurry, I widen my eyes trying to get them readjust but I suddenly start to feel weak I open my mouth to speak and nothing comes out, "well the ball should be starting soon!" She claps her hands together as if she doesn't notice anything is wrong with me, I'm on my knees my eyes closing. The last thing I see is her smiling saying "you better get ready"

* * *

I awake, I can feel a cold floor beneath me, I lift my head and see I'm lying down in the middle of a room _it's pitch black_. I prop myself up on my elbow still feeling sluggish, I look down at myself and see I'm wearing the dress Francesca gave me. I look around the room and all I see is a pedestal similar to the one in Francesca room. "Hello?" I yell but hear nothing but my own echo. I try to stand which takes me a few minutes; I had to make sure I wouldn't topple over. I walk over cautiously to the pedestal, I reach it and lift my dress as I step up. The pedestal started to glow and when I looked up I see a mirror glow but I can't see myself I see- "Gabe!" He looks like he's at the ball already, scanning the room. My heart skips a beat just seeing him, he's wearing a white and blue suit and his hair is slightly disheveled from his normal look, but he looks so good. He didn't respond "he can't hear me" I say disappointedly to myself, another mirror lights up beside it and shows me - "Gabe?" It's him at a different ball, it looks similar to the other mirror but he's wearing black and blue and his hair is parted, and my stomach flutters but my mind feels like its scrambling. "What's happening?" Another mirror appears showing a Gabe standing on a balcony, this Gabe looks sad with a red and white suit as he sips his champagne letting out a deep sigh looking inside at the ball. I see him finish his glass and say "Where are you Elena?" I step down from the pedestal and don't know what to do. I stare between all the mirrors, unsure of what was I to do. They all look like him, how am I supposed to know which one to choose.

Above the mirrors it says:  
"You are free to choose... But you are not free from the consequence of your choice."

I walk over to the far left one and reach out to touch his face on the mirror; but my hand went through. Before I knew it I was falling through, I had to catch my balance but failed at it, I ended up wrapped in someones arms before I went tumbling. His scent invaded my senses and made my legs feel like jelly, "Elena?" He said breathlessly said into my ear, I look up at him and his smile is beaming. I smile as he guides me to stand up straight, "Where have you been? I didn't think you were coming for a second there..." He says rubbing the back of his neck while I smoothed out my dress turning behind me and see a mirror similar to the ones I had seen. I stand straighter now and turn back to face him "I was just getting ready" I say with a smile I follow his gaze as he looks at me from top to bottom biting on his bottom lip for a moment then says. "Wow...If I wasn't already in love with you, I would've realized it right now." My eyes widen, that was very _forward._ "Well...Thank you Gabe..." He continued staring at me not saying a word, almost like he was trying to memorize everything about me in this moment. I clear my throat "Shall we?" I say motioning to the doors toward the ball. He snapped out of it and extended his arm which I gladly took, and we headed into the ball.

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 **A/N: I'm working on finishing this story and another before I do a GOT fanfic :) Anyway I know it was long awaited and hope that it makes you wonder... what happens next. Until next ...**


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